It was five years ago when Arkansas Tech did something no other Gulf South Conference football team in the state had ever done - win an outright league championship.

Now the Wonder Boys are back at it again, bringing the first NCAA Division II football playoff inside the state's borders when they host Catawba (N.C.) College in a 1 p.m. first-round game today at Buerkle Field.

"Teams always dream of getting this opportunity, and sometimes dreams come true," Tech coach Steve Mullins said. "It's an honor to be hosting a first-round game, and it's a tribute to the university and our players to be considered a host."

Tech (9-1) enters the contest as the fourth seed out of the Southeast Region, while Catawba (7-3) is the fifth-seeded team. And while this is Tech's first playoff berth in five years, this is commonplace for Catawba, which is returning to postseason play following a one-year hiatus.

"Catawba is a very experienced playoff team," Mullins said. "Catawba was involved in some controversy last year when it had a 9-2 team and didn't make it, but that team fought back and returned. It's a tribute to that school, and it's not going to be hurting in playoff experience."

While Mullins feels fortunate to having a team come to Tech and play, Catawba feels the same way about being in the playoffs again. The Indians was among four South Atlantic Conference teams with a 4-3 mark in league play and was ranked seventh in the Southeast Region poll heading into the last week of the regular season.

Thanks to Fayetteville State's loss last week to Shaw University, that allowed Catawba to jump into fifth and avoid a rematch with league champion Carson-Newman, which defeated the Indians by a 49-30 margin two weeks ago. Fayetteville State, meanwhile, dropped from fifth to sixth and earned the right to travel to third-seeded Carson-Newman this week.

"We were having an all-conference coaches meeting Sunday, and I had planned on making a tape swap with Carson-Newman there," Catawba coach Chip Hester said. "It was there that I found out how we were having to travel to Arkansas Tech. We haven't had to go that far in three years, when we traveled to Grand Valley State (Mich.) in the playoff semifinals."

"We're extremely excited about this opportunity, and we feel lucky to get into the playoffs. I thought we played an extremely tough schedule this season and that helped us beat out a couple of teams out of the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), which we had a 5-0 record against this season."

The Indians enter the game with an offense that averages 38.3 points per outing. Senior quarterback Luke Samples has completed 187 of 311 passes this season for 2,438 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 touchdowns, with his favorite targets being Corey Reedy (54 receptions, 591 yards and five touchdowns) and Rod Tenor (43 catches, 697 yards, six TDs).

Meanwhile, most of the running duties is split between Rodney Wallace and Mario Crowe. Wallace has the most yards by a 710 to 620 margin, but Crowe has 14 rushing touchdowns to only seven for his teammate.

"As far as Catawba's offense, they (Indians) are very similar to ourselves," Mullins said. "They run out of the I formation, with it being centered around the quarterback and tailback. The quarterback has a lot of experienced and doesn't make mistakes, and they're like us in the fact they use more than one running back. They mix in speed with a little bit of power in the running game."

Defensively, SaMario Houston is the Indians' leading tackler with 86 (48 solos, 38 assists), followed by Dustin Cox with 82 (35 solos, 47 assists). Kolby Fisher has 10 quarterback sacks, while Eddie Wall leads the team in interceptions with three.

"Catawba uses a base 4-3 scheme with a cover-two situation, and they (Indians) are very physical," Mullins said. "It's going to be the best defensive line that we've faced all season, and that's a concern to us. Calling that group strong will be an understatement.

"The secondary is extremely disciplined in the zone coverage. The cornerbacks love to jam the receiver off the line of scrimmage, and they're disciplined with the two-deep coverage. They will not be beaten deep. They want to make you move methodically and have to work down the field."

Tech, meanwhile, counters with quarterback Jason Campbell, who has already set a new single-season record in passing (2,435 yards on 169 of 294 passing) and tied the single-season mark for touchdown passes (25). Michael Crooks is the leading receiver with 42 receptions for 676 yards and 8 touchdowns, while freshman R.J. Vanhook leads the Wonder Boys' ground game with 781 yards and eight scores.

"You talk about a great football team on film," Hester said of Tech. "The one thing that stands out about Arkansas Tech is the fact we're looking for something that exposes a weakness, and I don't see it. Tech is so good at so many things. Offensively, Tech can hit you by running or throwing the ball. It's hard to say we're going to focus on shutting one thing down because Tech can hit you with another. It's going to be a challenge for our team."

"Tech has such a strong defensive front," Hester said. "The defensive front is so solid, and the guys in the secondary know how to fly to the football. Coach Mullins and his staff has done a great job of building a solid defensive team."

The winner of today's game moves on to next week's second-round game at top-seeded Albany (Ga.) State, which drew a first-round bye.